Fernando Villavicencio
Fernando Alcibiades Villavicencio Valencia (11 October 1963 – 9 August 2023) was an Ecuadorian politician, activist and journalist who was a candidate for President of Ecuador in the 2023 general election. He was a member of the National Assembly from 2017 until his assassination in 2023.
Fernando Villavicencio | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 14 May 2017 – 17 May 2023 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Fernando Alcibiades Villavicencio Valencia 11 October 1963 Alausí, Ecuador |
| Died | 9 August 2023 (aged 59) Quito, Ecuador |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wound to the head |
| Political party | Coalition Movement (2018–2021) Pachakutik (1995–2017) |
Career
changeVillavicencio was the first to report about detailed security logs on Julian Assange that staff and security guards at Ecuador's UK embassy kept.[1] In 2015, Cynthia Viteri and Villavicencio sent secret documents to WikiLeaks showing that Ecuador was using an Italian company to run a surveillance program that was spying on journalists and political enemies.[2]
During the 2013–2014 National Assembly session, Villavicencio accused President Rafael Correa of having ordered an armed attack at a hospital during a police revolt in September 2010.[3] He was sued by Correa for libel, and Villavicencio was sentenced to 18 months in prison.[3] He traveled to Washington, D.C., to look for help from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, but when he returned to Ecuador, he already had an arrest warrant against him.[3] Instead of turning himself in, he hid in the Amazon region until his sentence expired.[3]
In May 2023, after President Guillermo Lasso's dissolution of the National Assembly, Villavicencio announced his candidacy for President of Ecuador in the upcoming 2023 election.[4]
Death
changeIn September 2022, Villavicencio claimed he had many assassination attempts after his home was allegedly attacked by gunfire.[5]
On 9 August 2023, Villavicencio was shot in the head after finishing a campaign rally in Quito. He was pronounced dead at the scene.[6] He was 59 years old. One of the suspects, Johan David Castillo, who shot Villavicencio was fatally shot by a police force. Nine others were injured in the attack.[7]
References
change- ↑ Hamilos, James Ball, Paul (1 September 2015). "Secret Memos Reveal Julian Assange's Escape Plans From Ecuador's Embassy". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Glatsky, Genevieve (10 August 2023). "Who Was Fernando Villavicencio?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Villavicencio, Jiménez y Figueroa están bajo la protección de Sarayaku". El Comercio. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
- ↑ "Fernando Villavicencio, el primer político que habla de una candidatura presidencial tras la muerte cruzada". El Universo. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ↑ "'They are not going to break me', says Assemblyman Fernando Villavicencio after denouncing attack outside his home". El Universo. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ↑ "Candidate in Ecuador's presidential election shot dead". BBC. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
- ↑ "Asesina al candidato a la presidencia de Ecuador Fernando Villavicencio" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 9 August 2023.
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